Gender Differences in Fat Talk Among American Adults: Results from the Psychology of Size Survey

Vignettes were used to assess gender differences in likelihood of hearing others engage in and perceived pressure to join in positive, negative (fat talk), and self-accepting body talk. An age-representative sample of 4,014 adult women and men voluntarily responded to an emailed “Health and Wellness” survey from an internet polling company with whom they had pre-registered. Women reported more likelihood of hearing fat-talk scenarios and greater pressure to participate in them compared to men. Only a subset of participants reported frequent exposure to and pressure to join in fat talk. Demographic predictors of pressure to engage in fat talk were also examined. This was the first survey to examine body talk among older adults.     

Do Animated Disney Characters Portray and Promote the Beauty–Goodness Stereotype?

Disney movies are frequently cited as a source of the what‐is‐beautiful‐is‐good stereotype. Two studies (a) assessed prevalence of the stereotype across animated Disney movies; and (b) examined whether exposure to such films influences children's judgments of peers. In Study 1, human characters in 21 films were rated on attractiveness, goodness, and character outcome. Regression analyses demonstrated that attractiveness of a character was a significant predictor of the character's portrayal. In the second study, 42 children (ages 6–12) were exposed to either a high or low beauty‐biased film and then rated target peers. Children rated the attractive target more favorably than the less attractive target. However, film exposure did not increase children's use of the stereotype.     

On structure of trauma-related stress reactions among people with diabetes mellitus

The factorial structure of trauma-related stress reactions was explored using the Purdue Posttraumatic Stress Disorder revised scale, in a sample of 106 adults with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. An exploratory factor analysis yielded 2 factors, (a) arousal and passive cognitive-affective avoidance reactions and (b) re-experiencing and active avoidance reactions. The 2-factor structure, however, may also be reflective of the scale format which limits its interpretative power.     

Connection and separation in the infant-mother dyad: Patterns of touch and use of interpersonal space

Infant-mother boundaries were operationalized in terms of body-to-body contact and use of interpersonal space. The unit of observation was the infant-mother dyad. Infants between the ages of 12 and 24 months and their mothers were observed in three situations: self- and mother-recognition tasks, and the free-play and second reunion episodes of the Strange Situation. Infant-mother touch and the pattern of proximity-distality were principally determined by context of interaction; and, in the more stressful and more structured situations, the connection-separation balance favored connection, whereas in the free-play situation the balance favored separation. Infant-mother touch and use of interpersonal space were not found to be isomorphic to attachment; in addition, attachment interacted with age and gender of the infant to describe level of connection-separation. Results are discussed in the context of working models of the relationship and formation of boundaries.     

Voxcom: A system for analyzing natural speech in real time

A system is described for analyzing recorded natural speech in real time using a microcomputer. Recordings up to 15 min in length can be analyzed in terms of fundamental frequency, amplitude, length of utterances, and pauses. Although primarily developed for clinical research, the system has applicability to other research areas involving speech.     

The Effects of Self-Correction Versus Traditional Spelling on the Spelling Performance and Maintenance of Third Grade Students

We examined the effect of self-correction versus a traditional spelling approach on the acquisition and maintenance of written spelling of elementary school students enrolled in third grade. Six students, who were at risk for spelling failure, served as subjects. During self-correction, students used a form with five columns that contained correct pre-written models of spelling words. After reviewing the word list, students folded back the first column, which contained the words. Then, they listened to their spelling list on individual cassette players and spelled each word in turn in the subsequent columns of the form. Students checked their spelling responses by unfolding the first column and matching their responses to the sample. Each correct spelling response was marked with a C incorrect spellings were fixed by writing the correct orthography above the word. During traditional spelling, students wrote each spelling word five times, using a pre-written model as a guide. Results showed a functional relationship between self-correction and improved spelling performance. Five of the six maintained a higher number of posttests words on maintenance probes. All students preferred the self-correction method over the traditional spelling method.     

Social likeability,conformity, and body talk: Does fat talk have a normative rival in female body image conversations?

Fat talk, dialogues among women involving negative body-focused discussions, was studied as a function of conformity and social likeability through the use of four vignettes depicting young women in conversation. Using a 2 (body presentation style of the group: negative or positive) × 2 (body presentation style of the target, Jenny: negative or positive) factorial design, 215 college women (92.1% non-Hispanic Caucasian) read one of four vignettes in a classroom setting and made ratings on a social likeability scale. Participants’ personal ratings of Jenny's likeability were higher when she spoke positively about her body, whereas they expected the other group members in the vignette to like Jenny more when she conformed to the group's body presentation style. This study is the first to support two competing norms for women's body image—the existing norm to fat talk versus a newly documented norm that some women like others who express body acceptance.     

Gender Comparisons of Fat Talk in the United Kingdom and the United States

This study compared different forms of body talk, including ??fat talk,?? among 231 university men and women in central England (UK; n?=?93) and the southeastern United States (US; n?=?138). A 2 (gender) by 2 (country) repeated measures ANOVA across types of body talk (negative, self-accepting, positive) and additional Chi-square analyses revealed that there were differences across gender and between the UK and US cultures. Specifically, UK and US women were more likely to report frequently hearing or perceiving pressure to engage in fat talk than men. US women and men were also more likely to report pressure to join in self-accepting body talk than UK women and men.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FEMININE GENDER ROLE STRESS, BODY IMAGE, AND EATING DISORDERS

The Feminine Gender Role Stress (FGRS) scale was used in two studies to determine whether eating disorders could be linked to the cognitive tendency among women to appraise specific situations as highly stressful because of rigid adherence to the traditional feminine gender role. Study 1 showed the FGRS scale could distinguish eating disorders from other psychiatric disorders in an inpatient setting and from normal college women. This suggests that women who have eating disorders report higher than usual levels of stress as a result of rigid adherence to the traditional feminine gender role. Study 2 looked at cardiovascular reactivity to a "feminine" (i.e., body image threat) and a control stressor and determined the FGRS scale could predict which women are threatened by feminine stressors. Results from these studies suggest feminine gender role stress may be the missing link between cultural values of femininity and vulnerability for eating disorders.